Must Go Faster

Jeff Goldblum attended a friend's wedding recently and, when asked if he'd be willing to be a part of the "Jurassic Wedding" meme that so many wedding photographers are doing now, the Jurassic Park co-star happily obliged (he's in the lighter suit)...



Hilarious.

Also, ironically, Jurassic World finished principal photography today.



Exciting.

Before they were stars

Every actor has to start out somewhere (Ryan Gosling in Young Hercules) and, as you'll see by these videos, their roles were not always as glamorous as they are today (Ryan Gosling now).



So, take a little trip back in time to see some of your favorite actors featured in roles that, although likely not their brightest moments, got them to where they are today.

This first compliation features: Leonardo DiCaprio, Denzel Washington, Jeff Goldblum, Clint Eastwood, James Franco, Steve Carell, Bryan Cranston, Jason Bateman and Chevy Chase.



The second features: Bill Murray, Tom Hanks, Steve Buscemi, Paul Newman, Robin Williams, Robert Downey Jr., Ryan Gosling, Robert Pattinson, Kristen Stewart, and Katie Holmes. 




Lots of interesting hair-dos and retro clothes that almost make Jeggings not seem quite so bad.

via: Gawker

Pose

It seems that Jeff Goldblum's infamous Jurassic Park pose is making a comeback in London...

Now TV, a streaming TV service and broadband provider in the United Kingdom, commissioned the statue, which is currently lounging comfortably near the Tower Bridge. It was made to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the original Jurassic Park movie—and, well, to get attention for Now TV, of course, which it is most certainly doing.

That statue face is just a wee bit creepy.

Here is the original shot from the film...



If you can't make it to London to hang out with him there, you can always get one of these at your nearby Target...



This last one might be a bit more affordable than a flight.

New Do Review

The upcoming issue of Entertainment Weekly features a first look at the Thor: Rangnarok cast, which includes Cate Blanchett (looking very un-Cate Blanchett-y) as the villain, Hela.



Jeff Goldblum (looking very Flash Gordon-y) as the Grandmaster.



Chris Hemsworth's Thor is wielding a new haircut (looking very why-don't-you-marry-ME-y).



I guess even Gods need to get their hur did once in a while.

Thor: Rangnarok opens on November 3rd.

Berry Interesting

It looks like we'll finally get to meet Rachel's two dads...

Tony-winning Broadway star Brian Stokes Mitchell and "Law & Order: Criminal Intent's" Jeff Goldblum will portray Hiram and LeRoy Berry, the couple who adopted and raised Lea Michele's character Rachel.

We won't have to wait long to see them in action, either - the Berry dads will make their first appearance in the February 14 episode of "Glee," and they're expected to sing.

That should be a very interesting episode. Speaking of which...



Those hats were hilarious!

I watched this week's new episode where Will finally proposes to Emma and, for the first time in a very long time, really enjoyed the entire episode. The characters weren't dramatic caricatures this week...they actually seemed like real people with real life conversations, emotions, heart, and truth.

My only beef with this episode was the randomness of Coach Beiste's off-screen elopement with Cooter. I would have liked to have seen an entire episode dedicated to her winning him back from Sue. Oh well, there was plenty of other stuff to enjoy on the show for sure.

Sue was finally allowed to interact in a normal way with everyone and provided some of the best moments in the episode, especially the storyline involving Becky's crush on Artie.



I think this description sums it up best...

Special mentions needs to be made of Lauren Potter, who plays Becky, and Academy Award-winner Helen Mirren for her internal monologue. Both actresses turned in great performances that elevated the episode significantly. The concept, from its introduction to the very end of the episode, worked on every level and reminded us of the perfect balance "Glee" can strike between tragedy and comedy.

Her storyline and "Sometimes it sucks being me. Today is one of those times." monologue at the end of the episode was very touching and heartfelt.

Let's hope that, whatever the studio did differently with this episode, they keep doing it.

Time will tell, but it gives me hope.

Oscar, Oscar

The Artist really racked up the Oscars (literally in this poster) on the Academy Awards show last night. I haven't seen it yet, but most folks I have spoken to who have said that it was kinda boring and, although good, just not that great. However, I do enjoy watching Jean Dujardin, so we'll see what I think when I finally catch it OnDemand one day soon.



I don't care what anyone says, I'm really happy that Meryl Streep finally won for Best Actress! She constantly gives great performances and should have won several other times over the years. I liked Billy Crystal's line about how she deserved an award just for having to sit through the other 14 nominations in the past and acting like she didn't care that she lost again.

Here is a great article on the Art of the Meryl Streep Acceptance Speech from The New Yorker (thanks for posting Kerry!). I think many people assume Meryl wins Oscars all the time, but she doesn't...

What you may not realize is that Streep has not won an Academy Award since 1982, for “Sophie’s Choice,” and before that she had won only for “Kramer vs. Kramer.” Yes, she’s been nominated a record-breaking seventeen times, but that means she’s lost fourteen times, which puts her firmly in Susan Lucci territory.



I'm glad The Descendants won for best adapted screenplay. It was one of my favorite movies of last year.



My Week With Marilyn didn't win anything, but I've heard it's good and my friend Joel did such a good job with this poster that I didn't even realize that it's my friend Andrew. Hilarious!



Hugo won five awards and, again, most people I know thought the movie looked good, but was too long.

I haven't seen this...



or this...



or this (nor did I recognize my friend John in this poster)....



It seems I will be using OnDemand a lot over the next few months.

I did see The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo and really enjoyed it. I also enjoy that my friend Chris (featured here in the poster) will be moving to Atlanta very soon!



Overall, I thought Billy Crystal was a fine host and, although he seemed a bit off than in years past, it was nice to see his opening movie montage again. I always enjoyed those in previous years.

I also enjoyed Ellen's new JCPenney commercials. Here are some fun outtakes:



Jimmy Kimmel also had his Oscar follow-up show and presented his Movie: The Movie that "packs everything moviegoers love into one spectacular motion picture event" and includes all of these actors: Ryan Phillippe, Jessica Alba, Taylor Lautner, Antonio Banderas, Josh Brolin, Colin Farrell, Jeff Goldblum, Bryan Cranston, Gary Oldman, Samuel L. Jackson, Cameron Diaz, JJ Abrams, Martin Scorsese, Emily Blunt, John Krasinski, Jessica Biel, Chewbacca, Helen Mirren, Steven Tyler, George Clooney, Charlize Theron, Tom Hanks, Ed Norton, Meryl Streep, Matt Damon as a bunch of grapes, and Gabourey Sidibe.

Chewbacca and Helen Mirren in one movie!



Here is a Behind-The-Scenes video of the making of Movie: The Movie:



As always, thanks to my friend Joel's hilarious Oscar Party posters for this post. They always make me laugh and remind me how much I miss attending that party and seeing all of my friends at his house each year. He started making these posters a few years ago and they quickly became the anticipated highlight each year to see which friend would be featured and how.

Click on these links to see the fun posters from 2011, 2010, and 2009.

Also, yesterday marked my FOUR year anniversary of writing this blog.

Thanks to everyone who has continued to read it over the years....it is very much appreciated!

Ain't no mountain high enough

And I thought the view from my hotel balcony was nice...check out the view from Liz's living room.

Liz had the misfortune of sitting next to me on the flight from Melbourne to ChristChurch a couple of weeks ago. "Misfortune", in the sense of, she told me that she lived in Queenstown and that, when I got there, I should contact her. I'm sure she was just being polite and must have thought/hoped that this chatty American would forget or lose her contact info. But, I didn't...



It's funny, when I called her a couple days ago, I heard something in the background and asked her if she had one of those soothing "Sounds of Nature" CDs on and she laughed and said "No, it's just a bird..I have the sounds of nature actually here.". After she picked me up today to join her on her regular hike up into a nearby mountain, we stopped by her home for a second and I got to see where she lives. The pictures above and below show the view that she has from her house...can you believe it? Unobstructed views of another part of the lake and several mountain ranges.





And that's just the front yard. This is her view in the backyard...



Maggie...I think I found your dream house (we've just gotta get Liz to donate it to us).

It was just so beautiful there that I told Liz, even if we didn't do anything else, it would have been just fine to sit and stare at the lake and mountains. But, she still wanted to go hike and, she's no monkey...I'd get me out of her house too. So, off we went, first stopping at a secret "Lord of the Rings" site that isn't on any of the overpriced tours they give here. Peter Jackson bought this particular parsel of land and restricted it...but, Liz knew the one lane that could access it. So, we drove up this long, windy hill into a grove of trees and here it is...



Nice....hill. Liz laughed and said that this is what most of the tours do...take people to little areas that pretty much look like this and say "'This is where the blah blah blah happened or was shot", but there is no set piece or marker there to show the "before". Just an area of land, your imagination and your credit card charge. This particular area had a large columned stone (faux stone) castle on it (from the first movie) and, if you scratch a bit below the dirt in places, you can find wee bits of the dusty foam remnants. I'm glad I didn't pay the honkin' price for one of those tours...



So, we got to the base of the mountain, parked the car, and headed up the nearby trail. This was no sissy-hike, it was a steep, windy hike and I "let" Liz lead for a couple of reasons. One, because she knew where we were going (she hikes/runs this about 3 times a week) and, Two, because I didn't want her to hear the sound of my heart bursting, which I was certain it was going to do at several points during the hike. It was probably good for her, because it shut me up for a bit so she could enjoy the serene setting. But, I actually did a pretty good job of keeping up with her and she showed me a variety of really cool, hidden areas....like this water fall and swimming hole that some people use in the summer to cool down.





Then we wandered up further and she showed me this natural tunnel in the middle of one part of the mountain.



I took my picture and was ready to get back on the trail, when she said "No, we're going through it.", which we did. Not a bug, spider or snake to be found...which is one of the many reasons I enjoy New Zealand. I haven't seen one spider or large bug since I've been here...just a few sand flies, which is something I can deal with. It was like walking through Jurassic Park, but without the dinosaurs, danger or Jeff Goldblum.



We hiked even higher and, before my head had a chance to explode from the lack of oxygen, we came across Sammy Summer's cabin (or Jamie Summers cabin...some summer's cabin). It used to be where an old prospector lived back in the 1800's (there's still some gold in these here hills). So, it's kept up and, somewhat maintained, for people to check out if they survive the climb.



There is even a guest book on the desk that people sign, which is pretty fun. Liz had a group of friends who, when filling out what their destination was, put "Liz's house for dinner" as a joke. Well, a few other random hikers over the next couple of months saw that and also put "Liz's house for dinner" too. So, of course, I put "Liz's house for lunch". Gotta continue the tradition.



We hiked even higher and came across another natural water fall and, sometime, swimming hole down below. I didn't swim, but it was beautiful to see, as everything else was on this hike. So many interesting things to see along the way. Like this huge, twisted tree that looked like where the Keebler elves might live...



This interesting rock sculpture that someone had created.



Liz said she notices them randomly appearing along the trails now and then. I told her it reminded me of the "Blair Witch Project" markers, but, thankfully, without the chicken bones or blood. Then, Liz said that we had one more nice lookout just up the trail and, "nice" was putting it mildly....



Who needs a silly "Lord of the Rings" tour when you get to see scenery like this? Thankfully, we had reached the top of the hike and finally headed back down the mountain, with me snapping pictures of the cool scenery that just seemed to continue appearing around each corner.







Before we hit the bottom of the mountain, I saw this house on a nearby hill...I bet they have a nice view.



Maggie...I'll see if I can get you this house instead. Liz is kind of attached to hers, as you can imagine.

We made it to the bottom and stopped on the bridge, chatting with an unusual local man who was talking about heading up into the mountain to pan for a little gold (and he was serious). Of course, now that I write about that, it occurs to me that maybe we saw the ghost of that Sammy Jamie Summers guy from up in the hill. Insert "Twilight Zone" music here....

We got back to Liz's, picked and ate a couple apples from one of her trees, and headed back into town. I'm so glad that she was kind enough to bring me along and show me the sights along the way. People pay big bucks to see the kind of scenery we saw today, for free. Maybe I'll come back here and give guided tours. Well...after they install a gondola and/or escalator up to the top, of course.



Before leaving, I had to take one last picture of her house, from the back yard this time.

Would you ever leave your house if you saw this kind of view every day?

I don't think I would.